REGION: Fortune magazine praises local companies

Fortune honors Qualcomm, Genentech, Scripps Health and Intuit

Four prominent local employers have made Fortune magazine's
annual list of the 100 best companies to work for.

Qualcomm Inc. ranked 33rd; Genentech Inc. ranked 35th; Scripps
Health came in 37th and Intuit Inc. rated 44th on the list.
Qualcomm and Scripps Health are headquartered in San Diego County.
Intuit employs 1,200 in an office just south of Carmel Valley.
Genentech employs about 500 in Oceanside.

The magazine looks at many aspects of corporate life, including
benefits such as vacations, child care, retirement contributions,
health insurance and, of course, money.

"This is the 10th year we've been on the list," said Julie
Miller, an Intuit spokeswoman in the San Diego office. "What Intuit
is being recognized for is this continued focus on ensuring we have
this talented and engaged employee work force."

Intuit, a maker of financial software, offers benefits such as
32 hours a year of paid time off to do volunteer work.

"Here in San Diego, employees use time to support a number of
different charities including Toys for Tots and Junior
Achievement," Miller said. "The other thing is there is a culture
of innovation and employees say it doesn't feel like one big
company. It feels like it is a bunch of startups."

To help foster that feeling, Intuit employees are given up to
four hours a week of their time to work on their own projects for
the company.

Qualcomm's perks include an on-site gym, on-site child care and
domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples. Fortune also noted
that the wireless giant "imported a New York City chef to oversee
its cafes, which feature fresh foods sourced from local farmers and
no canned foods."

Biotech giant Genentech is noted for its strong community
involvement, such as company-endorsed volunteer work with local
charitable groups.

Scripps Health is praised for its extensive employee training
program, which everyone "from new hires to senior managers takes
part in," Fortune wrote.

Redwood City-based DPR Construction, a major contractor in San
Diego County, ranked 22nd on the list. The company employs 415
workers locally. The company is building Palomar Medical Center
West in Escondido, the new Isis Pharmaceutical research facility in
Carlsbad owned by BioMed Realty Trust, and the Sulpizio Family
Cardiovascular Center at UCSD’s Thorton Hospital in La Jolla.